


Truth in Lie's Consequence

by fineinthemorning



Series: Bouquet of Our Broken Notes [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Cannibalism, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-23 18:22:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16164338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fineinthemorning/pseuds/fineinthemorning
Summary: When Akira's best friend goes missing for a week, Akira will stop at nothing to get to him-- even if it means sacrificing everything to bring them back together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [This song on repeat this time](https://youtu.be/vvvvcpwFw5o) for my soundtrack.
> 
> Oh, today's prompt was "Cannibalism". How could I not write about Ghoulies?  
>  ~~Day 2 and I'm already suffering lack of sleep. OTL~~

Akira Kurusu stood outside the the gray apartment door, inhaled deeply, and knocked.

Waiting, he listened to the white silence only briefly before placing his ear against the door, pressing it flat against the cold metal surface to listen for any sign of life from the other side. Morgana, his cat, shifted in the bag on his left shoulder and peeked out to yawn in his face as if to ask, ' _What are you waiting for?_ '

Akira pulled away from the door and shifted his weight from his left foot to his right, stalling. Futaba, Akira's surrogate little sister, had traced Akechi Goro's phone here to his apartment, so, where was he? He had to be here because Akechi wasn't one to just leave his phone behind. His _schedule_ was on his phone. He'd die without his calendar, and, by extension, that meant he'd die just the same without his phone to reference.

Akechi Goro _had_ to be on the other side of this door.

Akira looked to Morgana and sent his cat a psychic message through the magic of eye contact, ' _What do I even say?_ '

There was some chance that Morgana had gotten the message because the cat relaxed and curled up back inside his school bag as if to say, ' _Beats me. This is your problem._ '

Feeling abandoned by the cat he loved most, never mind the only cat he loved, Akira took a step back. Maybe, just maybe . . .

Akira knocked again, but this time, he walked away from the door and waited two doors over against the wall and entirely out of sight of whatever his best friend would be able to see through the peephole. He sighed. What was he-- eight? In his head, he could hear Akechi's voice ridiculing his immaturity before he would likely burst into laughter at his expense.

"Some friend you are," he mumbled.

A minute passed, then three, and he found himself doing the one thing he always ended up doing when Goro wasn't available: texting Futaba.

 **SilentThunder:** Is he really there?

 **Alibaba:** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ cellphone is

 **Alibaba:** how do you not have a key to his place?

 **SilentThunder:** I never got one when he moved after high school. ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚

 **Alibaba:** dramatic much?

 **Alibaba:** you have one before?

 **SilentThunder:** Yeah.

 **Alibaba:** did you knock

 **SilentThunder:** Yes.

 **Alibaba:** you say anything

 **SilentThunder:** Maybe . . .

 **Alibaba:** Ok, but did you sing?

 **SilentThunder:** Thanks for the help.

 **Alibaba:** He's YOUR best friend. Whatre you so nervous about?

Akira leaned his back against the wall of the building and shut his eyes. He could still see Akechi walking, hand-in-hand, down Sunshine City street with a girl with long, straight hair and red-rimmed glasses. She'd been smiling at him, and he'd blushed back at her before they'd disappeared around a corner.

He hadn't spoken to him since that day when he'd refused to meet up with him because he ' _already had plans_ '. Sure, Akira had been avoiding meeting him because well, he didn't really know how to process what he'd seen, but that didn't give Akechi the right to do the same. And, he'd been texting him like crazy, and Goro hadn't said anything. What had he done to deserve the silent treatment from Goro? Goro was the one dating someone without so much as a word to his best friend that he'd even asked someone out. 

Akira wished he would have just said something concerning that topic in particular. Literally anything about it would have been better than nothing. It felt so much worse that Akechi had kept it a secret. And not just the date, but a girl, too. Akira had been convinced for the longest time, the last seven years to be precise, that Akechi was gay. Somehow, they'd never talked about it, though. They didn't talk about romance or romantic relationships much at all. He couldn't even once recall a conversation about sex or anything even relating to it. Now that Akira had been met with the reality of what he'd seen in Ikebukuro, he wondered if maybe he should have. Maybe it didn't matter if Akechi knew he was bi or not, or maybe it did. Maybe it meant more to him than he realized, and he'd only understood that after Akechi had basically disappeared on him.

 **SilentThunder:** I'll text you later.

He felt his phone vibrate once as he tucked it into his back pocket. Futaba was right. Goro was his best friend; he shouldn't be nervous. If anything, he should stop being a selfish jackass and take the time to think about Goro instead. This silence was so unlike him. They hadn't texted in a whole week. Goro hadn't even updated his social media accounts, which he did at least once a week. Maybe something had happened. No, something had definitely happened, but--

Steeling himself, Akira walked up to the door again, knocked, waited, and finally, began singing.

Loudly.

He sang the opening theme to the seventh season of the Featherman series. It was Akechi's favorite season when the Black Condor became leader despite the ongoing rivalry between him and the Red Hawk. It was also probably the angstiest season by far. The director had put chemical warfare in a children's superhero series, but whatever-- Featherman went hard. That was probably why it was still watched by so many adults today.

Morgana's head popped out of the bag, and he glared at Akira in annoyance, but it didn't stop him as belted out the chorus.

By the second verse, the door swung open, he was pulled in suddenly by a strength he hadn't been prepared for, and the door shut behind him in a blur. He'd been so startled that when he tried to steady himself, he tripped right over the edge of the genkan and onto the floor of the hallway. Morgana hissed and scampered into the living room upon impact, and Akira grimaced from the impact on his elbow.

"Sh-shit, Goro. You--" the words dropped off a cliff somewhere in his brain never to be recalled for future use.

"You idiot!"

Akira stared at the man in front of him, his eyes studying him, searching him, for any kind of familiarity. They found no comfort in the way Akechi's clothes hung loosely and haphazardly on the few curves of his body, nor did they find comfort in the way his hair framed his face wildly-- grease and sweat causing some of it to stick out while, simultaneously, the rest of it stuck to his face and neck. He wore an eye patch over his left eye, and his teeth grit in a permanent line, his eyebrows narrowed and accusing, "What were you thinking?"

Anger? Akira blinked, " . . . That it would get you to answer the door?" Which it did, so . . .

Akira deserved a great many things, but he was here, and he was here for _him._ If anyone, Akira, _himself_ , should be the one who was angry. Sure, he'd only just now _visited_ Akechi, but he'd tried calling at least once a day, and he'd even carried an entire text conversation with just himself when attempting to text him non-stop to inspire so much annoyance that Akechi would have _no choice_ but to text him back. It had only taken about four minutes before Akira realized that there was a mute button on Line messages. Anyway, the point was that he'd tried! He'd tried to be there for Goro for whatever it was that was going on despite his own stupid sensitivities. "I've been worried about you. You haven't answered my calls or any of my texts." Akira made sure to keep his voice level. Typically, it calmed Akechi down, no matter the situation, and for someone as passionate as Akechi, it was often that he needed to be calmed down.

Goro leaned his back against the front door behind him and crossed his arms, practically hugging himself, "Maybe I just need some time to myself. Ever thought of that?" Akechi's tone remained sharp, but he brought his volume down to match his friend's.

"No, not really. I just assumed you always wanted to be around your best friend."

Akechi's glare told him that he'd chosen the incorrect response.

"A week ago, I was--" Akechi's eyes froze and his mouth hung open for several seconds in disbelief. Akira looked around him and then inspected himself to find that the fall had caused him to skin his elbow. There was a bit of blood dripping from it.

"It's okay, Goro. It doesn't even--"

"I--" Akechi interrupted him, straightening his body but sending his gaze in at least a million other directions, "Have you been watching the news?"

In a normal situation, Akira would have gotten up to clean his wound, but Akechi, if the shaking his body appeared to be doing or the trembling his lips had taken on was any indication, wasn't acting normal, so instead, Akira remained on the hallway floor and put his right hand over his left elbow. He couldn't stop the bleeding, but he could at least keep blood from making a mess on the floor. "I mean, I usually see it, yeah, when doing shifts at Leblanc. Why?"

"Do you recall a -um- a-- an accident a week ago?" Goro was becoming more distracted by the second.

Akira just kept his eyes on him, trying desperately to search out the truth from his body language alone. He spoke without thinking, his mind mostly on trying to decipher the clues Akechi couldn't conceal, "Some kind of construction thing but--Goro, you were in Ikebukuro, and . . ."

"How did you know I was in Ikebukuro!?" Akechi snapped, his arms immediately at his sides.

"What? I -- well, I saw you on your date."

Akechi's eyes widened and he shrank up, "You saw her?"

At this point, Akira was sure he was missing some vital piece of information, "Yeah, but, that's okay," he tried to play cool, "I mean, if you've just been trying to make time for her or something I--"

"No," Akechi dismissed him, "it's not that. . . " his voice drifted off and he appeared to clam down once more.

After a moment of silence, Akira risked a request, "Tell me what happened."

"I was hurt. That's all," Akechi smiled.

Akira shook his head, "You know better than that." He did his best to keep his voice even. Things were bad if Akechi was defaulting to his pretty public persona for Akira's benefit when he knew that Akira hated being treated that way, being lied to, most of all by him."That's all? that's--" And then it clicked, "You were the person in the accident?! You?" Akira stood up to get a better look at Akechi's eyepatch.

"Yes," Akechi trembled, his arm out in front of him to keep Akira away.

"Goro, why didn't you say anything?" He could no longer keep his worries at bay, "Why didn't you--!" No, wait, that didn't matter now. "I'm so glad," he relaxed his shoulders and, respecting Akechi's wishes, kept his distance.

"What?" Goro looked confused.

"I'm so glad you're alive. The news said the victi--you-almost died."

"I may as well have," he replied darkly, his single visible eye escaping to stare at the floor.

"You haven't told me everything."

"That is correct."

"Akechi," he took a single step forward only for both of Akechi's arms to go up to keep him away, "We've known each other seven years now. You don't have to hide anything from me."

"I--"

"I'm bi," Akira replied with a firm nod, his hand leaving his elbow without thought.

"Wh-what?" Akechi became immediately flustered.

"I'm bi. I like men and women, like, both are fair game. I never told you." Akira tried to smile.

"And you think _now_ is the time?" Akechi gave his signature look of disapproval which only appeared more threatening with the eye patch.

"I didn't want it to be a secret," Akira shrugged.

Akechi just shook his head and looked away, clearly distracted.

Well, it hadn't been the reaction he'd been expecting, but he did agree, in hindsight anyway, that now was probably not the time, "You didn't know, right?"

"No, I didn't." Akechi backed against the door again to make up for his dwindling strength, "You dated Makoto in high school."

"Yeah, but, she, um . . . We couldn't stay together." That was the simple version. Speaking on it now, Akira decided that it really was ridiculous that the two of them could be as close as they were but they couldn't share something as simple as their sexual preferences.

"Okay, why are you telling me this?" Akechi's voice took on a new tone-- frantic but confused. The anger must have completely fizzled out.

"I think that's everything," Akira's eyes finally fell from Akechi to notice the blood on the floor. Well, that had been stupid.

"Everything?" Goro questioned.

"Now, I think you know everything there is to know about me," Akira tried smiling at him, but Goro was working desperately to avoid eye contact.

"And I'm supposed to do the same for you?" his arms were wrapped around himself again, but this time, Akira couldn't help but see it not as an act of comfort, but more as one of desperation.

"Tell me what happened, Goro," he repeated.

"I died."

Akira shook his head and tried not to smile wider for risk of angering Akechi. Both of them were fairly dramatic, but Akira showed it in other ways."You look  . . _mostly_ alive to me."

"The Akechi Goro you know died. I can't--" His single, uncovered eye met Akira's gray suddenly, "we can't--"

"It can't be that bad. Nothing is so bad that it would prevent us from being friends."

"Would you betray me, Akira, for any reason?" Their stares locked on one another.

"No?"

"Do you promise?" Akechi's single eye kept shifting from Akira to the floor and back again.

"What is this about?"

" . . . What if I murdered someone?" He asked suddenly.

"Goro, just relax. I'm not going to _betray_ you. You know that. I've got your back."

'What if I murdered someone?" Goro asked again, disciplining his single eye to stay focused on the floor.

Akira went silent to ponder it over. It didn't appear that Akechi would accept anything less before finally accepting his answer. Murder? If he were being terribly honest with himself, he could see Goro doing it. Maybe in another life or in another world, they both could. His thoughts ran away with him to scenes of them working together to take on the crime world of Tokyo, corrupt politicians, and nasty gym teachers. The scenes played out in his mind like some kind of bromance thriller.

"I'd imagine that if you had murdered someone, you would have had a really good reason for it. So, yes even if you murdered someone, I would still stand by you," Akira smiled and, finally, put his hand under this left elbow once more.

"And what if I were a ghoul?" Akechi asked, finally looking up again, his single red eye wild, desperate, and reaching.

Akira couldn't hide his confusion which passed over his face as amusement first, "A ghoul? Akechi, you're not a ghoul-- trust me. I would know if--"

Akechi removed the eye patch in one motion, and Akira stared in disbelief at the two very different eyes. A black sclera. A blood red iris.

Akechi had become a ghoul.


	2. Chapter 2

Only a few seconds passed before Akira burst into a fit of laughter, his head falling back in care-free amusement. “Goro, this is probably the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever tried to convince me of and--” He blinked, his  laughter falling short while staring at his best friend who now donned a stony glare in addition to the foreign black sclera in his right eye.

Goro had always been human; Akira knew that as  sure as he did his own name. Besides, ghoul’s like this didn’t exist. One eye? Half-ghouls? Those were just a myth. He’d heard of the one-eyed ghoul, of course, but there had only ever been one according to the legend. Not only did it not make sense that Goro would be anything other than human; it didn’t make sense that he would be the one half-ghoul that the stories were all about.

Akira’s expression froze between a smile and a frown, his eyes sharp while th ey traced shared history across Goro’s face. Though both he and Goro were adept at keeping emotions under check, it was Goro that always went to great lengths to hide them He’d cloak nervousness with arrogance and embarrassment with anger. Still, Akira had never seen such a threat in his best-friend’s face before. More vulnerable than nervous or embarrassed, Goro, in this moment, was scared, and he did his best to hide it with the glare in his eyes. Like an animal backing into a corner,  Akechi’s patience for Akira’s inappropriate reaction had been pulled taught and would snap any second unleashing a misdirected aggression Akira wasn’t ready to deal with.

“Goro, you--”

Goro lunged for him, pouncing on top of him in the hallway. Having no time to move away, Akira could only put his arms up in an effort to create distance between them. In the process of trying to protect himself, Akira knocked Akechi in the jaw, his bloodied hand smearing red up the left side of Akechi’s face.

Mismatched eyes wild, Akechi licked his lips, his tongue reaching to the left corner of his mouth where the blood from Akira’s hand had been smeared. His face now hovered only a few centimeters over Akira’s own. This close, Akira could see the tiny veins in his best friend’s skin around his eye. No amount of makeup could replicate the rampant RC cells that bled through the veins in his skin to the capillaries in his eyes that stained Goro’s right eye black.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, horrified, trembling, mirroring the racing heart he could all but hear beating in Akechi’s chest. 

Goro’s eyes went wide, fear finally overwhelming even the mask he wore to hide it. He fell back quickly, tripping backward into the genkan.

Akira struggled with proper speech as he sat up. He wasn’t scared  _ of _ Goro; he was terrified  _ for _ him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” His chest ached with a familiar pain-- one that seemed to rear its ugly head any time his concern for Goro overwhelmed all other rational thought. Wordlessly, he sent his clean hand into Akechi’s ash brown, greasy hair, slow and gentle as he urged the other’s head forward to clean the red from the palm of his right hand.

Akechi struggled out of his grasp, his wet eyes wide blaring choked questions his lips couldn’t voice. 

On his knees, Akira held his eyes as he nodded twice and reached up behind his best-friend’s head, fingers in chestnut hair once more to pull Akechi close, “It’s okay.”

Only a few seconds passed before Akira felt a warm tongue lick at the palm of his hand. His chest ached as he felt warm tears on his bloodied skin. Goro licked again, timidly, and Akira whispered this time, into his ear, “It’s okay.”

Goro assaulted the offered hand with his tongue, lapping up all the blood hungrily, taking both of his own hands to spread his friend’s fingers wide to lick between them. Clearly ashamed, Goro kept his eyes closed the whole time, tears spilling freely. When he’d finished, Akira watched him as he refused to lift his head to avoid his best friend’s eyes.

“I’m here,” Akira whispered, heart pounding in his chest. He sounded so much more reassuring and confident than he felt. Knowing one wrong move would destroy everything between them, and this time, possibly permanently, he took the risk of pulling Goro closer to him.

Akira used his now clean thumb to wipe at the blood smeared on Goro’s face. When Goro didn’t pull away, Akira began wiping at his tears with both hands, gentle and forgiving, readying a smile on his face in case Goro gathered enough courage to open his mismatched eyes. He was not unfamiliar with the needs of ghouls, so he turned his arm around to bring his bloody elbow closer to Goro, offering it silently with another gentle tug on his hair.

“A-Akira--”

“It’s okay, Goro. It’s okay.”

His best friend’s mouth on his elbow was not as awkward as he thought it might be, and, thankfully, it didn't hurt that bad even as Goro bit experimentally at tiny bits of loose skin and dug his tongue into the shallow wound eagerly. Goro’s hands awkwardly held Akira’s arm in place as he sucked at the wound.

“When was the last time you ate?”

Goro didn’t respond, pulling away from him suddenly, his head bowed in shame. 

Akira took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. His chest still ached painfully but for himself or Goro, he couldn’t tell. His smile never faltered, however, since he knew that the moment it fell would be the second Goro would look up and his heart would shatter. No, he had to make sure that Goro trusted that he was fine with this change in him so completely that he’d never hide anything from him again.

And so, Akira took off his shirt, pulling it over his head and setting it to the side on the floor of the hallway. He still had his smile ready for when Goro finally opened his eyes, still wet with tears.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Akechi asked, voice uncharacteristically soft.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Akira met his question with the same volume.

Akira watched his bloodied bottom lip quiver. Despite the number of questions he had for Goro, he knew that it would be a thousand times more helpful if Goro were to answer them from someone more familiar with what he was going through. There was no point in putting Goro through a stressful interrogation twice. Though, to be fair, if Akechi really had somehow become a ghoul, Akira wasn’t sure there was  _ anyone _ familiar with what he was experiencing.

Akira made his choice. “Can you make it to Leblanc?” he asked softly. 

Leblanc was twenty minutes of train rides from here. One connection. Two lines. Three stations. Akechi shook his head, his expression defiant, “Akira, I’m a mon-”

“Stop,” Akira cut him off sharply, cutting more harshly than he meant to, “You’re not.” He was sure to remain calm, non-judgmental, and just  _ concerned _ .

But, regardless of what Akira did, Akechi was broken, “But I  _ am _ . I’m a  _ ghoul _ . I--”

Akira put his hand up to silence him, and, surprisingly enough, Akechi went quiet. The way Akechi’s eyes flickered across Akira’s face, down his neck, and across his chest, showed Akira that despite his compliance, he was anything but calm. Goro was struggling even after the blood he’d licked from Akira’s wound.

“You can explain it at Leblanc, okay? Everything’s going to be fine,” he attempted to sound reassuring and reached for Akechi’s left hand only for his best friend to move it out of his reach immediately.

“Why there?” he asked.

“Dad . . . Sojiro,” he corrected himself, “ . . . he’s a ghoul.” Akira had been adopted in every way but name by Sojiro after he’d moved to Tokyo. The only thing that didn’t tie him to the Sakura family were the papers and a name change.

“Sakura-san?” Goro looked horrified-- betrayed, even.

Akira kept his smile in place, his hands careful as they reached again for Akechi’s own. “I’ve lived with him since he took me in when I was fifteen. He doesn’t just help people like me; he helps ghouls. He can help you.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know,” Akechi freed his hands from the comfort of Akira’s and wrapped his arms around himself once more, “And Futaba-chan?”

“No, she’s adopted. She’s like me.” They’d both lost their parents to ghouls. Akechi had always known that about Akira, but Akira had never said anything about Futaba’s parents until now. “He’s just . . . a good person.”

Akechi closed his eyes and shook his head. From Akira’s perspective, it appeared that Akechi couldn’t just accept that explanation. “But he’s not a  _ person _ , he’s a ghoul. You--”

“Goro,” Akira interrupted, “think about what you’re saying.”

“ . . . You’re right,” Akechi muttered, his half lidded eyes staring at the floor to escape any kind of eye contact, “I’m sorry. I’m just--I’m so sc--”

Akira pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him and shushed his concerns quietly, “I’m here. I told you, didn’t I? I will never betray you. Never.”

“I’m so scared,” Akira heard him admit as his voice broke out into a stuttering tremble. 

“It’s going to be okay.”

“But it-it won’t--I--”

Akira pulled him away, his hands still on his shoulders, so that their eyes could meet. The warmth in his expression aided his words in sounding as convincing as possible, “I’m not going anywhere, Goro.”

Goro closed his eyes, his shoulders shaking once more as tears threatened to fall. “I--Akira . . .”

The pain in Akira’s chest gripped in suddenly causing him to fall forward slightly. He could see Goro’s tears on the floor, their heads now bowed together. He could feel Goro’s greasy hair against his forehead. He could hear Goro’s quiet sobs and sniffles no matter the efforts Goro attempted to hold them in. “Goro, you,” Akira struggled to voice the emotions fighting up his throat, “. . . you’re the most important person in my life. Please trust me.”

In response, he didn’t move, and for a long time, he said nothing until he voiced softly, “I trust you.” 

Akira did his best to remain reassuring, “You will feel better after you eat. We’ll go to Yongenjaya. I’ll explain everything to Dad and we can both go to the local clinic together.”

“That doctor, she’s a ghoul, too?”

“That’s right.”

Goro lifted his head and Akira followed suit. “You said I knew everything there was to know about you, but I feel like I know nothing at all.”

“That’s not fair,” Akira complained evenly, transparent in his amusement, “Everything I’ve told you were other people’s secrets.  _ I’m _ not a ghoul.”

“No, you’re just surrounded by them,” Goro, forgetting for a moment the irony of his complaint, rolled his boat light eyes.

“That’s two people,” Akira shrugged, wiping Goro’s face free of tears for the second time.

“None of your other friends?” Goro let him touch him, but the red in his cheeks didn’t fade.

“Okay, some of my other friends,” Akira admitted with a smirk. They could get to that another time.

Goro’s face went flat, annoyed and unimpressed with Akira’s confession.

“Goro,” Akira smiled wider, happy to see Akechi act like himself even just a bit, “I’ve kept  _ no _ secrets from you.”

Goro looked away and gently pushed his hands aside, “I’ve kept them from you.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“It is.”

“It’s not!” Goro snapped.

Akira had been caught off guard by the volume, but he recovered quickly, speaking softer to calm Goro down, “It’s okay. Now is not the time.”

“No, it i-is,” the trembling had returned.

“What is it?” Akira relented,unable to to keep Akechi from doing this to himself.

Their eyes met and Akira watched as Goro’s fidgeted nervously down and up, down and up, down and--

Akira didn’t have time to pull away, but in his shock, he wouldn’t have anyway. Goro leaned in, tilting his head so that they didn’t bump noses, and brought his lips to Akira’s. He pressed himself there awkwardly until he pulled away to try again, this time succeeding in a proper kiss. 

Goro’s lips were warm and soft on his, but the pain in Akira’s chest overwhelmed his ability to respond properly, so even as Akechi pulled away to gage his best friend’s reaction, Akira could only stare back in shock.

Hadn’t he just seen Goro on a date with someone? “What about--”

“I’ve always felt this way,” Goro spoke evenly, strangely calm.

“What?” he asked, dumbfounded and unable to articulate anything intelligent.

“ . . . Since we met seven years ago,” and then the blush spread quite suddenly across Goro’s face.

“Why didn’t you-- oh.” Akira had never dated a boy; Akechi had no idea he would even be open to the idea. Akira brought his hands to his face to cover it, trying desperately not to cry. He wasn’t upset; it was just too much to take in at once. But, it didn’t matter how he felt about Akechi’s transformation or about Akechi’s confession; what mattered now was that Goro was the one having to deal with these things first-hand. Goro was the one who had become a ghoul. Goro was the one who had harbored feelings for him all this time. Goro was the one being brave when all it took was Akira making the choice to walk away to destroy him completely. Akira had Futaba, Sojiro, and all of his friends. Goro had him, and, by extension, Futaba, but that was essentially it. 

That would change after today. Everything would change after today, but not for Akira: for Goro.

Akira pulled his hands from his face and found Goro’s, intertwining their fingers in a newly found intimacy. “Goro, you understand that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?”

“I . . .,” Goro blushed even more deeply, “Yes, I know that.”

“Good,” he tried smiling encouragingly, “I need you to eat. Right here, this muscle should be okay,” he pointed to the top of his trapezius on his shoulder near the base of his neck.

“Akira?” Goro looked immediately horrified once more. 

All of his walls had come down, and all Akira could think was that he somehow looked even more beautiful for it. “We need to get you to Leblanc.” He brought Akechi’s fingers to his lips, his eyes still on his as he kissed them, “ . . . Do you think you can . . . just take what you need?”

“Yes,” his breathy response left Akira’s imagination spiraling. 

“Come here.” Akira pulled Goro forward, letting go of his hands only as they found their way around his back. He initiated the kiss this time, and pushed Akechi’s lips open to deepen the kiss further. Goro pulled away, blushing still as his eyes searched Akira’s for answers. He must have found them because when he initiated the kiss this time, he was much more confident, pressing himself against Akira possessively, kissing down his neck, sucking and nibbling to elicit a pleased whimper. The pleasure didn’t last. Goro found the spot Akira had pointed to and, without warning, bit down, teeth cutting through the skin. 

“Ah!” Akira choked back the pain in a strangled yelp, shutting his eyes tight to stop the tears. Putting Akechi first, he raked his fingers up and down his best friend’s back and used his other hand to gently hold his head, hand in his hair, attempting to comfort him as he swallowed, sucking at the wound to keep the blood from spilling. It had been just one, large bite, but it was enough pain to test Akira with everything he had not to scream. Goro had at least bitten him in the right place; no major blood vessels had been hit-- just skin and muscle.

Akechi was crying as he lapped at the wound, so Akira whispered softly in his ear to calm him down. He voiced his gratitude, his trust, his devotion.

“You understand, don’t you?” he whispered.

“I do.” Akechi replied what seemed like lifetimes later. 

A peace settled between them. 

Akira tugged on Goro’s shirt to expose more skin on his shoulder.

“What is it?” Goro asked, no longer stuttering or trembling.

“Let me.” Akira nuzzled his shoulder.

“What?”

Instead of explaining, Akira bit down on Goro’s shoulder only to pull away suddenly, lips taught over his teeth, “Ah, that hurt.” Goro blinked, confused, which only made Akira laugh, smiling at him with a whisper, ‘Relax, okay?”

“You’re not a ghoul.” Akechi complained, “What are you doing?”

“So we’re even,” Akira insisted, sniffling.

“What?”

Akira leaned in and kissed him again, smiling against his lips even through the taste of his own blood.

“Fine,” Akechi relented.

Akira chuckled, peppering kisses across Goro’s face and down his neck. He nuzzled the spot on Goro’s shoulder first before opening his mouth wide and biting down. He didn’t draw blood anywhere but his point must have gotten across because Goro cursed in response. Even if he couldn’t draw blood, it still hurt. Akira hoped it would leave some kind of mark.

He pulled away, smug, laughing at Akechi’s expression, “I do, too.” He winked.

Goro blushed, confused, “What just happened?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the art capacitrice did for this fic [over here.](https://twitter.com/capacitrice/status/1048816385361629184) So cute~!! Many thanks to her for betaing, tooo~~~
> 
> Thanks for reading~!


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